all about Madonna

Top Electronic Albums :
03 (06) Madonna - Confessions On A Dance Floor

Hot 100 Singles Sales :
04 (01) Madonna - Jump
27 (26) Madonna - Get Together
35 (50) Madonna - Sorry
47 (--) Madonna - Hung Up *re-entry*

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
-- (24) Madonna - Jump

Hot Dance Music/Club Play
06 (05) Madonna - Jump

Dance Radio Airplay :
01 (01) Madonna - Jump

Hot Dance Singles Sales :
01 (01) Madonna - Jump
08 (07) Madonna - Get Together
09 (13) Madonna - Sorry
12 (16) Madonna - Hung Up

24 Pictures - Madonna going to / leaving the gym in London (November 29 2006) - are added to the gallery.

ICON members are the first to see the cover of the Confessions Tour DVD! And we are happy to announce that the wait is almost over! The DVD will be released on January 22, 2007 internationally, January 23, 2007 in the US.

Madonna has sent sir Bob Geldof a heartfelt thank-you letter for inspiring her to adopt an African baby.
I can reveal that charity campaigner Sir Bob was the key man behind Madge's decision to pluck little David Banda from poverty in Malawi.
And as a sign of her gratitude, she has secretly made a huge donation to Sir Bob's Band Aid charity for Africa. The pair chatted about Africa after he persuaded Madge to perform at last year's Live 8 concert in London's Hyde Park.
Now the Queen Of Pop has told pals she would never have visited Malawi if Sir Bob had not told her about the country's plight.
And she credits him with helping her to extend her family.
She has also promised to support Bob at the drop of a hat if he ever needs her influence on a new charity campaign.
Madonna was shocked at the backlash she suffered after she returned to the UK with baby David last month. After donating millions of pounds to fight poverty in Malawi she was accused by her critics of "buying" her African child.
But the Material Girl didn't think lightly about the adoption and spent hours discussing her plans with Sir Bob.
A source close to Madonna said: "She feels that she is forever in Sir Bob's debt for having introduced her to the country where she eventually met her beloved son.
"She is extremely grateful to him for bringing David into her life and feels she owes him a lot.
"Madonna and Sir Bob fell out a little bit after he announced she would be performing at Hyde Park before she had agreed to the gig.
"But that is all forgotten now. It was a flash in the pan and Madonna has never regretted doing the show."
The source added: "She has now made a very generous donation to the Band Aid charity through her own Ray Of Light Foundation.
"She also sent Bob a lovely personal thank-you letter to extend her gratitude to him.
"And she gave him a huge bundle of photos that she and her husband Guy had taken while they were in Malawi.
"She thought Bob would appreciate them."
source : thesun.co.uk

A judge in Malawi will permit a coalition of 67 human-rights groups to move forward with their legal challenge to Madonna's adoption of one-year-old David Banda - and allow them to help decide if the singer is a fit mother.
In his Wednesday ruling in the Malawian capital, Judge Andrew Nyirenda said the human-rights organizations could be viewed as "friends of the court."
The groups can therefore pursue the application for a full review of an interim 18-month custody order that allowed Madonna to take the child out of the country. The groups members can also be party to the assessment of the pop singer's fitness as a mother.
"We want to be joined as a party to the assessment because we have a lot of legal issues we want to raise," Justin Dzonzi of the coalition told reporters last month.
The groups had argued that the Malawian government cut legal corners to "fast-track" the adoption, and said regulations must be followed to protect children, the Associated Press reports.
Madonna has denied that she was given VIP treatment.
David is currently living with Madonna and her family in London. "David is amazing," Madonna, speaking via satellite from a TV studio in London, said during an October interview with Oprah Winfrey.
"What really surprises me is how great my children are with him and how he's transitioned so easily from living in Africa in an orphanage to living in our house," she said.
source : ap/people

10 Pictures - Madonna leaving the gym in London (November 28 2006) - are added to the gallery.

A bustier worn by Madonna on her Who's that Girl tour goes under the hammer tonight.
The creation is one of 160 lots featuring in the It's More than Rock 'n' Roll auction.
Marvin Gaye's handwritten musical manuscripts are also up for sale.
The manuscripts had been given to a friend and forgotten about until they recently resurfaced in London.
Other objects include the original Rolling Stones tongue artwork, Elvis Presley's 1960s Cherry Sunburst guitar and John Lennon's beige mohair 1963 stage suit worn at the London Palladium.
The auction takes place at 7pm at the Sound venue in London's Leicester Square.
source : iol.ie

Malawian lawyers said that a judge had Tuesday deferred a ruling on whether rights groups could challenge pop diva Madonna's bid to adopt a local toddler whose mother died shortly after childbirth.
"There is nothing ... we are still waiting to hear from the judge and hopefully a ruling will be made next week," Alan Chinula, an attorney for Madonna, said.
Judge Andrew Nyirenda was due to make his ruling Tuesday behind closed doors in the administrative capital Lilongwe but postponed the judgment for a third time.
Lawyer Justin Dzodzi, who represents the Human Rights Consultative Committee grouping 67 local children's rights organizations, said: "The arrangement was that it would be up to the judge to call us to say when ruling is ready."
The coalition first lodged a petition in October, insisting that current laws did not permit for intra-country adoptions and asking for the right to bring a fully-fledged appeal at a later hearing.
Judge Nyirenda, handling the first high-profile adoption case in Malawi, granted an 18-month interim custody to Madonna to enable her to take David Banda to Britain.
The 14-month-old baby is now living with Madonna and her British filmmaker husband Guy Ritchie in London even though would-be adoptive parents are usually subject to an 18-month monitoring period by social workers in Malawi.
Madonna has denied using her vast wealth to fast-track the process while David's father Yohane Banda has called on the coalition to drop their action over fear that the singer will return the child to a life of poverty back home.
source : afp

From Madonna.com : Another gorgeous fine art canvas hits Z Gallerie this week, just in time for the holidays! The image was taken by Steven Klein for W Magazine and features Madonna wearing the riding hat that she donned all over the world in her record breaking Confessions Tour. This instant classic is a 36" x48" hand painted glicee print only available at Z Gallerie. Click here to purchase online or find the closest retailer.

9 Pictures - Madonna going to / leaving the gym (November 25 2006) - are added to the gallery.

The Official UK Singles Chart
32 (20) Madonna - Jump

The Official UK Download Chart
-- (39) Madonna - Jump

Madonna is planning to take adopted son David Banda on a paradise holiday this Christmas.
The Queen of Pop is hoping to visit the Cayman Islands or Seychelles next month to celebrate her first holiday season with the African orphan. She originally had her heart set on a trip to the Maldives but decided to cancel after a hotel demanded £250,000 if her family wished to book the entire complex for a week.
A source told The People: "She has got her staff pulling out all the stops to find somewhere else.
"Madge has been so happy since adopting David. She decided to make Christmas really special this year as it is his first with his new family. She and Guy decided to go somewhere idyllic where they could get away from it all. When it went wrong she was devastated."
source : digitalspy

Madonna has offered to help Britney Spears get through her divorce crisis - by inviting her to spend Christmas in Britain.
She wants to show her support as Britney, 24, prepares for battle with estranged husband Kevin Federline over custody of their children.
The two pop queens have been close friends since their notorious staged kiss at the MTV Music Awards in 2003.
Madonna, 48, has told Britney she is welcome to bring sons Sean, 13 months, and 11-week-old Jayden James to spend the festive season in London with her husband Guy Ritchie and their children, Rocco, Lourdes and newly adopted 14-month-old Malawian son David.
A source close to Britney in Los Angeles said yesterday: "Madonna has always been a guiding force in her life and career.
"Brit's confident she'll get full custody of her kids and, with Kevin gone, she's focusing on motherhood and resurrecting her career with a new album.
"Publicly, she's looking gorgeous and happy. But there's a lot of inner turmoil. Brit's no different to any woman whose marriage has failed. She blames herself for not trying harder to change Kevin, and can't stop asking herself how it all went so disastrously wrong."
The source added: "Brit hasn't decided whether to accept her invitation - but it means a hell of a lot to her to know Madonna is there for her."
Britney faces an ordeal when the divorce petitions are heard in court, early next year. Madonna, whose own divorce from actor Sean Penn in 1989 was not at all amicable, believes that Britney was right to put the Malibu mansion where she and Federline lived on the market for £6.99million."
The source said: "Brit has always listened to Madonna who, next to her own mom Lynne, has become a guiding light in her life and career."
Britney's Los Angeles spokesman yesterday refused to comment on a magazine report that she wants to drop "Federline" from the children's names after the divorce.
source : sunday express

British actress Emma Thompson has praised Madonna for adopting Malawian baby David Banda last month.
The Sense and Sensibility star has seen the plight of Malawi's children orphaned by AIDS first hand after becoming involved in charity work in the African country.
Shocked by the suffering she saw, in 2003 Thompson also welcomed an African orphan - 16-year-old Tindy - into her home after meeting the Rwandan refugee in London.
And the 47-year-old is convinced Madonna has made the right decision, despite taking David away from his native country and culture.
She says, "Malawi is a very difficult country, with tremendous problems with AIDS.
"While I understand the arguments about taking people away from their culture, there is a culture of deprivation and poverty that is not fun to be part of.
"She found a child in desperate need. Some people want to bring up a child personally, others want to act in a more general way, but both ways are surely to be welcomed."

16 Pictures - Madonna going to / leaving the gym (November 23 2006) - are added to the gallery.

Click on image bellow to watch videos on YouTube.

Top Electronic Albums :
06 (06) Madonna - Confessions On A Dance Floor

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles :
-- (05) Madonna - Jump

Hot 100 Singles Sales :
01 (01) Madonna - Jump
26 (23) Madonna - Get Together
50 (44) Madonna - Sorry

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
24 (25) Madonna - Jump

Hot Dance Music/Club Play
05 (01) Madonna - Jump

Dance Radio Airplay :
01 (01) Madonna - Jump

Hot Dance Singles Sales :
01 (01) Madonna - Jump
07 (06) Madonna - Get Together
13 (13) Madonna - Sorry
16 (16) Madonna - Hung Up

Will Madonna ever get old? She may acquire more gravitas, continue to mature emotionally, find greater meaning in her work with Kaballah, but will she ever look arthritic, puffy, menopausal? This increasingly seems doubtful. Madonna no longer re-invents, she maintains.
It is the sheer spectacularity of her physical form, the near menacing force of it, and that alone largely, that sustains your attention in Confessions on a Dance Floor," the two-hour film of a concert she gave at the Wembley arena in London this past summer, which was broadcast on NBC Wednesday night and will be re-shown on Bravo. With each tour Madonna has embarked on in recent years, her deltoids seem to grow more regally expansive and robust, and her arms more wing-like. Toward the end of the Wembley show, part of a worldwide tour pegged to her album "Confessions on a Dance Floor" Madonna sings one of its hits, "Hung Up," about a woman who migrates between boredom and agony as she waits for a man to call. But who could this man possibly be? Unless Madonna is expecting a call from Wladimir Klitschko, about meeting him in the boxing ring, the sight of her affecting weakness leaves you feeling as you would if you were forced to watch Ethel Mermen impersonate Chet Baker.
"Confessions on a Dance Floor" pays tribute to Madonna's current and former selves with dizzying jump cuts and all the spectacle the acrobatics, playground sets, 600 costume changes " that have become the hallmark of her concerts.
Today, Madonna, 47, is a concerned citizen of the world. She has made African AIDS orphans one of her causes and recently adopted a baby from Malawi, causing some controversy. At one point in the concert she sings "Live to Tell" against the backdrop of various images of children in Africa and a speeding tally of the number who have been left parentless. But here again, her perfect musculature produces a kind of dissonance. Madonna doesn't have an altruist's body, she has a denier's. What you're tallying in your head when you watch her dance with the strength and agility of a 19-year old, are the number of hours she is spending each day practicing ashtanga, running hills, bench-pressing the weight of a Regency table. You are counting all the calories Madonna is not eating.
In addition to keeping up her legendary physical regimen, Madonna now also rides horses on her country estate in England. Some have seen this as another aspect of her Anglo-philic pretensions, but really what is surprising is that it took her so long to cotton on to a sport so steeped in the dynamic of submission and control. Madonna the equestrian seems the most inevitable Madonna of all. Perhaps realizing that on some level, she opened her Wembley show looking as if she were about to ride in some re-imagining of Ascot. Madonna dances around, directing men on all fours before she rides an apparatus meant to look like an electric horse.
In "Confessions on a Dance Floor," Madonna travels back to the beginning of her career, before she was encumbered with the need to do good. The documentary "I'm Going to Tell You a Secret," which follows her on her 2004 world tour, reveals a Madonna who wants to learn all the time, who hugs her assistant and dancers, who wishes she had been nicer to people when she was young. Perhaps she knows that many in her audience miss the Madonna of so many Madonnas ago, the one who refused refinement and probably thought Oxford was just an insurance company.
"Confessions on a Dance Floor" gets deeper and deeper into her early disco years as it progresses with Madonna getting in and out of a Saturday Night Fever tuxedo and Jane Fonda-aerobics gear before it's all over, as if to tell us that sometimes, yes, she misses her, too.
source : nytimes.com

7 Pictures - Madonna leaving Cecconi's Restaurant in Mayfair after having dinner with Gwyneth Paltrow and friends (November 21 2006) - are added to the gallery.

Madonna goes front and center with her "Confessions Tour: Live" tonight on NBC.
The two-hour program, unavailable for review, was taped last summer in London. It has sparked particular interest over Madonna's performance of "Live to Tell," choreographed with her mounting a mirrored crucifix wearing a crown of thorns.
Religious groups protested NBC's initial decision to show the number. Then last month the network announced it would use alternate camera angles so that Madonna isn't viewed until after removing herself from the cross. Madonna had explained that the performance was meant to illustrate a theme of confession.
The tour is in support of Madonna's most recent album, "Confessions on a Dance Floor." The album's latest single, "Jump," (also on the soundtrack of "The Devil Wears Prada") hit No. 1 on Billboard's dance music chart earlier this month.
source : ap

Madonna fans tuning in for Wednesday's concert on NBC will get a show they weren't expecting -- the annual tree lighting at SouthPark mall.
WCNC-TV (Channel 36) will pre-empt the network special for the annual ceremony at SouthPark, which the station has broadcast live for five years.
"We had a prior commitment with SouthPark," said Stuart Powell, president and general manager of WCNC. "We're not making a statement with this one."
"Madonna: The Confessions Tour -- Live From London" generated controversy when it was first announced because her live show includes a scene in which she sings "Live to Tell" while suspended from a cross.
Before NBC announced in October that the scene was cut from the special, WCNC got about 300 complaints from viewers, Powell said.
Because of the preemption, the station has gotten about 20 complaints, he said.
One was from Logan Smith of Charlotte, a fan who went to Philadelphia to catch Madonna's latest tour. "I was a little upset," Smith said. "I think people who are expecting it to see it on TV are going to be a little shocked."
Powell said that WCNC had contacted NBC about running the Madonna special late at night, but the network had not responded as of Tuesday afternoon.
Originally, NBC had scheduled the two-hour concert to begin at 9 p.m., but when it was moved back to 8 p.m., it conflicted with the SouthPark broadcast, which the station had contracted to air long ago, Powell said. WCNC's "Carolina Traveler" will air during the 9-10 p.m. hour tonight.
source : charlotte.com

WRCB announced today that the NBC local affiliate will not broadcast "Madonna: The Confessions Tour Live" - a two-hour special set to air tomorrow November 22, 2006. The special was taped this summer at Wembley Stadium in London, UK during Madonna's worldwide sold-out 25-city "Confessions Tour" and has received local and national controversy concerning content.
WRCB-TV Channel 3 President and General Manager, Tom Tolar viewed the preview of the special late this morning and announced the station's reluctance to air the content at 8pm.
"I believe the majority of viewers in our area would find the content inappropriate for the 8-10pm time period," said Tom Tolar, WRCB's President and General Manager . "Although the NBC network has edited the Madonna concert to take out a mock crucifixion scene, there are many questionable scenes and content remaining."
WRCB is owned by Sarkes Tarzian, Inc. In addition to WRCB, Sarkes Tarzian, Inc. owns and operates KTVN-TV in Reno, Nevada; WAJI-FM and WLDE-FM in Ft. Wayne, Indiana; and WGCL-AM and WTTS-FM in Bloomington, Indiana. Sarkes Tarzian, Inc. headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana.
source : wrcbtv

5 Pictures - Madonna leaving Cecconi's Restaurant in Mayfair after having dinner with Gwyneth Paltrow and friends (November 21 2006) - are added to the gallery.

Just in time for the holidays, Madonna will make her TV shopping debut on HSN to promote an exclusive set of books from The English Roses, her successful children's book series. Madonna recently sat down with HSN's Callie Northagen to share candid details about the inspiration behind her newest book, The English Roses: Too Good To Be True, which will air on the shopping network and www.HSN.com November 24, 25 and 26. HSN, an operating business of IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI) , will donate a portion of the proceeds of the books to Raising Malawi (www.raisingmalawi.org), an orphan-care initiative benefiting the children of Malawi in Africa. Madonna will donate all of her proceeds to the organization as well.
"Launching The English Roses book series and my new title, The English Roses: Too Good To Be True, through this broadcast is a great chance to reach millions of homes," Madonna said.
"HSN is thrilled to be partnering with Madonna to support 'Raising Malawi' through the offering of her latest children's book The English Roses: Too Good To Be True," said Bill Brand, Senior Vice President of Programming at HSN. "These books are terrific holiday gifts that give back by supporting a worthwhile cause. Madonna's appearance on HSN will provide our viewers with interesting details about her beautiful books and allow them to discover a completely different side of this extremely talented artist."
HSN will offer the English Roses gift set (HSN item # 214-019) for $29.95, which includes: the original The English Roses and its sequel The English Roses: Too Good to Be True; Madonna Reads, an audio CD of Madonna reading the first five of her popular children's books; and an exclusive, collectible 8 X 10 illustration. HSN show times are available online at www.HSN.com.
source : elitestv

16 Pictures - Madonna leaving the gym (November 20 2006) - are added to the gallery.

from Madonna.com Newsletter : Madonna will give an exclusive interview to Access Hollywood on November 21 and will discuss the show's TV broadcast and her tour memories. Turn on your recorder and let the Queen Of The Dance Floor tell you more about it! Check local listings for interview times.

The Malawian judge presiding over a legal challenge of Madonna's recent adoption of baby David has postponed a ruling on the case, claiming he is too busy.
An alliance of 67 groups is challenging the interim adoption order granted to the singer and her husband Guy Ritchie last month. Madonna denies she used her wealth and influence to speed up the adoption process.
Last week Judge Andrew Chipeta in Lilongwe said he would wait till Monday to decide if the coalition have the legal right to challenge the adoption of the 14-month-old tot, whose biological father Yohane Banda is still alive.
However, Monday's case has been postponed until next week.
Justin Dzonzi, lawyer for the groups, says, "The judge has not communicated to me or my colleague but we hear that he is very busy and he might rule next week."
Chipeta delayed the case last week after Madonna's local lawyer Alan Chinula said he needed more time to study the groups' arguments.
source : ap

3 Pictures - Madonna leaving the gym (November 20 2006) - are added to the gallery.

The Official UK Singles Chart
20 (09) Madonna - Jump

The Official UK Download Chart
39 (38) Madonna - Jump

13 Pictures - Madonna and Guy Ritchie at Nobu Berkeley in London (November 16 2006) - are added to the gallery.

Yohane Banda, the biological father of the Malawian toddler pop star Madonna wants to adopt, has remarried, a relative said today.
Banda's cousin, Gedion Zimba, said the father of 13-month-old David married Flora Kamanga on Friday.
David was whisked away last month to London after Madonna and her husband, British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, were granted interim custody of him by a High Court judge.
Zimba said Banda, 32, married Kamanga, 22, at a low-key civil ceremony in his Lipunga Village in the central border district of Mchinji.
"It was a colourful ceremony. We are happy for him," he said.
Banda was not immediately available for comment.
Kamanga, who has a 2-year-old child from a previous relationship, is three months pregnant with Banda's child.
In earlier interviews, Banda disclosed that he met Kamanga, from nearby Noti Village, in April this year.
"I was still mourning my wife but I thought it was high time I found a partner," he said.
Banda's wife of 10 years Marita, 28, died on October 1, 2005, of childbirth complications a week after giving birth to David. The couple had two other sons - Garnet and Babel, but they both died in infancy from malaria.
Malawi's High Court is to rule November 20 on a challenge by a coalition of human rights and child advocacy groups on the proceedings surrounding the adoption by Madonna.
The singer says she has met all the country's requirements for adopting the child.
source : ap

20 Arthur and the Invisibles promo pictures are added to the gallery.

Madonna's representative, Liz Rosenberg, told American publication Life & Style that the reports about 2nd adoption are false.
She says: "Madonna has stated that she wishes she could adopt all the children of Malawi, and in a way I guess she is, building her orphan care centre through the Raising Malawi Organisation.
"But there are no plans to actually adopt another child."
source : irishexaminer

5 Pictures - Madonna and Guy Ritchie at Nobu Berkeley in London (November 16 2006) - are added to the gallery.

6 Pictures - Madonna going to the gym (November 16 2006) - are added to the gallery.

Click on image bellow to watch the video :

Britain's biggest-selling album of all time has been named as Queen's Greatest Hits, following a major study by researchers.
The Official UK Charts Company spent six months trawling through everything from hand-written till receipts from the 1950s to current chart sales to come up with the top 100.
Here's the top 10:
1. Queen, Greatest Hits (5.4 million)
2. Beatles, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (4.8 million)
3. Oasis, (What's the Story) Morning Glory (4.3 million)
4. Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms (3.95 million)
5. Abba Gold, Greatest Hits (3.94 million)
6. Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon (3.8 million)
7. Queen, Greatest Hits II (3.65 million)
8. Michael Jackson, Thriller (3.58 million)
9. Michael Jackson, Bad (3.55 million)
10. Madonna, The Immaculate Collection (3.4 million)

Top Electronic Albums :
06 (07) Madonna - Confessions On A Dance Floor

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles :
05 (--) Madonna - Jump

Hot 100 Singles Sales :
01 (03) Madonna - Jump
23 (25) Madonna - Get Together
44 (43) Madonna - Sorry
-- (46) Madonna - Hung Up

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
25 (27) Madonna - Jump

Hot Dance Music/Club Play
01 (01) Madonna - Jump

Dance Radio Airplay :
01 (01) Madonna - Jump

Hot Dance Singles Sales :
01 (27) Madonna - Jump (NEW)
06 (08) Madonna - Get Together
13 (14) Madonna - Sorry
16 (12) Madonna - Hung Up

16 Pictures - Madonna out and about in London (November 14 2006) - are added to the gallery.

World's Best Pop Artist :
Madonna
Robbie Williams
James Blunt
Shakira
Justin Timberlake

9 Pictures - Madonna going to the Curzon Cinema in Mayfair, London (November 09 2006) - are added to the gallery.

album: Like a Prayer
year released: 1989
label: Sire/London/Rhino
artist: Madonna

This is the moment Madonna peaked as a pop star and mass media manipulator. First, the manipulation. In the title's track's video, Madonna kisses a saint, shows off some self-induced stigmata and dances in a field of burning crosses. Caving in to protests from religious groups, Pepsi pulled out of a Madonna sponsorship deal (she held on to a $5 million payday) and the whole episode generated enough publicity to ensure the album's debut at No. 1. Brilliant. As it happens, so was the record. "Like a Prayer" was a genuinely soulful first single and "Express Yourself" merged Madonna's dance sensibility with her strongest feminist message. Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard and Prince (yes, that Prince) rescued the few middling tracks with production that elevated Madonna's voice out of its early bubble gum phase and into something resembling a real instrument.
full list

source : time / hec from madonnanation

Madonna will adopt a second Malawian baby, as soon as one-year-old David Banda has settled into her family.
The singer and husband Guy Ritchie will return to the Lilongwe orphanage where they found David - and they have their heart set on adopting a girl next time around.
Madonna even wants to take biological children Lourdes, ten and six-year-old Rocco with her.
She says: "I'm going to adopt another Malawian child very quickly. A baby girl this time, in order to redress the balance.
"But first I would like to give Rocco and Lourdes a little time to get used to David.
"The next time I go Africa to visit the orphanage, I am going to take the children with me. I want to open their minds to the rest of the world."
source : iol.ie

Malawi's High Court said Monday it will rule in one week's time whether a coalition of Malawian human rights and child advocacy groups should help decide whether pop star Madonna is fit to adopt a motherless Malawian toddler.
Justice Andrew Nyirenda adjourned the case after hearing arguments from a 67-member coalition that includes the state-run Malawi Human Rights Commission and maintains that the adoption proceedings have been irregular. His ruling was likely to have far-reaching consequences in a country where, largely due to AIDS, an estimated 2 million children have lost one or both parents and hundreds are adopted by foreigners every year.
Madonna has said she met all the country's requirements. And David Banda's father, who put the toddler in an orphanage shortly after his wife died of childbirth complications, has said the human rights group's lawsuit threatens his son's future. But child advocacy groups have said the lack of clarity in Malawi when it comes to foreign adoptions could be exploited by child traffickers or pedophiles.
source : ap

The Official UK Singles Chart
09 (-) Madonna - Jump

The Official UK Download Chart
38 (-) Madonna - Jump

2 Pictures - Madonna going to the Curzon Cinema in Mayfair, London (November 09 2006) - are added to the gallery.

Madonna is working with ABBA legends Agnetha Faltskog and Frida Lyngstad on tracks for her new album. Abba fan Madge is deep in discussions with the pair about recording together on her follow-up to No1 album Confessions On A Dance Floor.
And even though Agnetha has lived like a virtual recluse and Frida hung up her high-heeled platform shoes years ago they have agreed to go into the studio.
This will be a truly massive collaboration of the music monarchy The Queen Of Pop and the original Dancing Queens joining forces.
It should be a sure-fire hit if Madge, seen going to the movies in London's Mayfair, chooses to release their joint studio efforts as a single. A source said: "Madonna has been in contact with Agnetha and Frida for a few months.
"Madonna was the driving force behind the idea because she was so happy with her sample of Gimme Gimme Gimme on Hung Up.
"Agnetha and Frida loved it, they really warmed to Madonna for rejuvenating one of their most famous tracks."
My source revealed they will write and record together as soon as Madge, her producing partner Staurt Price and the ex Abba girls are all free.
Abba fellas Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson will not be involved but are believed to have given the plans the thumbs up.
Madonna made music history while writing Confessions together with Price, becoming the first artist ever to get permission to remix and sample an Abba track.
At the time she said: "I had to send my emissary to Stockholm with a letter and the record begging them and imploring them and telling them how much I worship their music, telling them it was a homage to them, which is all true.
"They could have said no. Thank God they didn't."
Earlier this week I revealed Madonna provided a message on the sleevenotes for the Swedish supergroup's Greatest Hits, which hit the shops on Monday.
She wrote: "Abba's timeless music continues to inspire me. It's joyous. Standing still when you hear Abba is impossible.
"When I started recording my Confessions On A Dance Floor album, Stuart Price and I played their music constantly. Hung Up is my homage to their contribution to music."
Madge is also working on fresh material with her ex Lenny Kravitz.
Price, Kravitz, Abba and Madge?
source : thesun

Madonna is turning her hand to directing - following in her husband's footsteps.
The Evita star's efforts in front of the camera have been panned by critics in the past.
But the singer, 48, said husband Guy Ritchie fully supported her plans to direct.
She told Kirsty Wark in a BBC interview: "From my perspective, you can say very little from a political point of view as an actress.
"The visionary in a film is the filmmaker so if I want to make an impact with a film, then I should direct one, not act in one."
Asked whether she was going to direct, the Queen of Pop replied: "I'd like to, yeah."
She added that she had a specific idea in mind but would not reveal details because "I don't wanna jinx myself".
Madonna said of her husband, who shot to fame at the helm of the gangster film Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels: "We've had discussions about it and he's encouraged me to direct."
In the interview, to be screened on BBC4 on Sunday, the star denied that her marriage is in trouble, saying: "Well, I think every married couple is rowing.
"People have been speculating about my marriage since my marriage began and .... I'm not gonna lie and say that we don't fight but I think that's how it goes."
source : yahoo

Madonna won the top boxscore award for her $22 million, eight-sellout stand at London's Wembley Arena on her Confessions tour, while Madonna's team of Guy Oseary and Angela Becker won the top manager award.
source : billboard

Leading digital studio, STEELE, completed work on a colossal show open music video for the Madonna Confessions Tour that recently swept the globe. The eight-plus minute video extravaganza features the singer performing on stage, accented by seven giant screens placed throughout the arena, and introduces the audience to Madonna's new song, Future Lovers. NBC will air the concert, titled 'Live to Tell', later this month.

As the arena lights dim to open the concert, an eerie underscore kicks up, and the video screens flicker to life. On screen, Madonna stoically strolls through a dimly lit horse stable before turning to the camera with the spoken-word opening of her hit song. "I'm gonna tell you about love," she proclaims, "Let's forget your life.Come with me," she whispers.

"Aside from the artistic demands for such a creative project, the logistical issues of the show's innovative video interaction made for a complex post process," said Jerry Steele, co-founder and supervising visual effects artist, STEELE. "There are multiple streams of video that play back at once on the giant screens, some of which physically move to form a single picture at a precise moment. You literally can't be off by one pixel or frame."

One of the most striking visual effects sequences involves a pair of scenes in which horses rise from the earth at the beginning of the video and descend into the ground at the conclusion. Monique Eissing was STEELE's lead visual effects artist on the job. "One horse was filmed in multiple plates, each with very specific framing requirements," explained Eissing. "I created and composited new, single pieces of land and sky so I could line up the horses as desired while not repeating the patterns of each plate. And, because there was dust blowing in the air, a desired design element, the challenge was to comp in new dust and create seamless connecting points among the plates so that it all looks like one shot."

Even before Madonna's live introduction, the opening video takes center stage, as she interacts with horses on screen and performs a hypnotic dance in the stable. While the audience is busy watching the screens, a giant disco ball descends to the end of a catwalk that extends deep into the arena seats. The disco ball opens like a flower, and out steps the ultimate ringmaster, Madonna, riding crop in hand, singing in front of the beautiful images on the screens.

"I feel very privileged to have worked on this project," added Eissing. "It was one of the most original and challenging jobs I've ever been involved with."

Acclaimed fashion photographer/director Steven Klein directed the Future Lovers video (via DNA), which was the offspring of his exclusive photo shoot for W magazine, coinciding with the release of Madonna's new album, Confessions on a Dance Floor.

The offline was handled by Clark Eddy using Apple's Final Cut Pro. Stefan Sonnenfeld of Company 3 provided color grading for the video.

Brian Adler, STEELE's executive producer / creative director, commented on the collaboration involved in the massive undertaking. "Future Lovers was a true group effort among some of the most creative people in the world: Jamie King's show design, Jean Paul Gaultier's costumes, Janusz Kaminski's cinematography, Steven Klein's amazing photographic eye, Clark Eddy's visually complex cutting, and of course, Madonna as the inspiration to everyone. We're honored to work among such world-class company. Creating the visual effects and putting together all the pieces was an incredible experience, and seeing it come to life in front of a live audience was a huge thrill for all of us at STEELE."

STEELE conformed more than 50 percent of the program in Final Cut Pro while completing the rest of the conform and effects shots on the Quantel eQ and Henry.

The Confessions Tour kicked off on May 31 in Los Angeles.

Credits:
Confessions Tour Director: Jamie King
DP: Janusz Kaminski
Costumes: Jean Paul Gaultier and Arianne Phillips

"Future Lovers"
Director: Steven Klein
Producer: Hagai Shaham
Production Co: DNA
Editor: Clark Eddy
Offline Editorial: Rock Paper Scissors

Post Prod: STEELE
Editing/Effects: Monique Eissing
Executive Producer/Creative Director: Brian Adler
Colorist: Stefan Sonnenfeld, Company 3

source : musicvideoswire

6 Pictures - Madonna going to / leaving the gym (November 09 2006) - are added to the gallery.
*Update* 19 more pictures added.

Two senior Malawian officials have praised Madonna for adopting a child from their country - and rebuked those who have criticized the pop star.
Madonna's efforts to adopt a motherless 13-month-old boy, David Banda, from the African country have set off a media storm. The 48-year-old singer and her husband, filmmaker Guy Ritchie, who have a home in London, were granted an interim adoption order by Malawi's High Court last month.
Some critics have said it would have been better for the child if Madonna had helped his impoverished father, Yohane Banda, to care for him in Malawi. Madonna has said Banda refused her offer of financial assistance to help him keep his son.
"What Madonna has done is great," said Education Minister Anna Kachikho during a visit Thursday to a school in the Scottish capital.
"Here is Madonna who has picked a son from a Malawian father who has lost a wife and nobody takes care of, and she says, 'I would like to educate and bring home that child.'
"I'm against whatever people are saying against Madonna, if there is credit to give we should credit Madonna because she is saving the life of this young David. Why condemn Madonna? ... We should thank Madonna," she said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Joyce Banda - no relation to the boy - said Madonna's charity, Raising Malawi, had helped several thousand children in the southeast African nation.
"On top of all that she has opened up her home to this one child. So it's not just about David, it's about her reaching out to Africa, to a country called Malawi, to empower 4,000 children which not many people have done," Banda said. "So the Malawi government is grateful."
The ministers were attending the launch of two Scottish-led training programs aimed at helping teachers from Malawi.
source : ap

Top Electronic Albums :
07 (07) Madonna - Confessions On A Dance Floor

Hot 100 Singles Sales :
03 (--) Madonna - Jump (NEW)
25 (30) Madonna - Get Together
43 (44) Madonna - Sorry
46 (--) Madonna - Hung Up (Re-entry)

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
27 (27) Madonna - Jump

Hot Dance Music/Club Play
01 (02) Madonna - Jump

Dance Radio Airplay :
01 (01) Madonna - Jump

Hot Dance Singles Sales :
08 (08) Madonna - Get Together
12 (14) Madonna - Hung Up
14 (12) Madonna - Sorry

22 Pictures - Madonna going to / leaving the gym (November 07 2006) - are added to the gallery.

Madonna is sporting a bruise on her cheek after getting jostled by the paparazzi at Heathrow airport over the weekend - while she was holding her adoptive son, David, a source close to the singer tells People.
"She had the baby in her arms when it happened," says the source. "When she landed in London, there was a lot of pushing and shoving. She was jostled around. She got hit in the paparazzi's commotion."
David, the 1-year-old she is in the process of adopting from Malawi, was not hurt in the scuffle. "Thank God the baby is OK," says the source.
Over the weekend Madonna returned to London from New York, where she'd spent the week promoting her newest children's book, Too Good to Be True, and her upcoming NBC TV special Madonna: The Confessions Tour Live from London, as well making several media appearances to respond the controversy surrounding David's adoption.
source : people

Alicia Keys has voiced her support for Madonna's attempt to adopt Malawian David Banda - and believes celebrities have a important part to play in the fight against poverty. The 'Fallin'' star, who hosts her annual Black Ball charity gig in New York on Thursday, was disappointed by the backlash Madonna received following her decision to adopt the 13-month-old last month. She says, "I think (it's) horrible, and I think (it) really degrades and tries to discourage people who do have a voice, who do have power, who do have money, who do have the ability to reach out to people and get involved in situations. "I do think that it has become more on people's radars, whereas before it kind of came across as, 'Oh, it's so far away.' It's really positive to know that it is a global community. "That's why when I speak and I use my voice, I like to emphasize the way that everyday people like you and me can really be a huge hero." The Black Ball, which raises money for HIV and AIDS sufferers, will feature performances by Keys, David Bowie and Damian Marley.
source : contactmusic

7 Pictures - Madonna going to / leaving the gym (November 06 2006) - are added to the gallery.

Madonna has helped write the sleeve notes for the Abba Greatest Hits album, out yesterday.
She says of the Swedish supergroup: "Abba's timeless music continues to inspire me. It's joyous. Standing still when you hear Abba is impossible.
"When I started recording my Confessions On A Dance Floor album, Stuart Price (her producer) and I played their music constantly.
"Hung Up is my homage to their contribution to music."
My own confession is a guilty love for Abba - who have to be the best pop act of all time.
But I'm in good company. They are also Noel Gallagher's favourite group.
source : thesun

Madonna is nominated for Best International Artist (Mejor artista internacional) and Best International Song (Mejor canción internacional, for "Hung Up") in the "Premios Principales 2006". Click here to vote.
source : hec from madonnanation

Brad was asked about the furore surrounding Madonna's adoption of Malawian baby David Banda and unsurprisingly he is backing Madge all the way.
He said: "They are trying to give a kid a home and education who probably wouldn't get that and good health care.
Pitt, who worked with Madonna's husband Guy Ritchie in Snatch, says he is sure they had the best intentions when they gave the boy a home.
source : itn

14 Pictures - Madonna at JFK airport in New York, leaving for London (November 04 2006) - are added to the gallery.

13 Pictures - Madonna at the Kaballah Center in New York (November 04 2006) - are added to the gallery.

The Empress Strikes Back
Madonna, facing criticism about her new son, comes out swinging

On Oct. 12, Madonna and her husband, Guy Ritchie, were granted temporary custody of a 13-month-old Malawian orphan named David Banda. This sparked a storm of accusations, ranging from the criminalthat Madonna used her fame to bypass adoption proceduresto the scathingthat Madonna is a dilettante, treating an African child as this season's must-have accessory. The legal issue has been laid to restno laws were violatedbut Madonna still had plenty to get off her chest in a rare print interview with TIME's Josh Tyrangiel.

TIME: Why do you think people are so upset by the fact that you adopted a Malawian child?

Madonna: People or the media? Because I don't think people really give a shit. But when you throw in things like, I'm a celebrity and I somehow got special treatment, or make the implication of kidnapping, it gets mixed into a stew and it sells lots of papers. But care? People don't care and the media certainly doesn't care. What they should care about is that there are over a million orphans in Malawi, and following me around is just a gross misappropriation of attention and money. But I do think there's a certain amount of nationalism and racism thrown in there. I mean, there's a lot of Britsreporters on the streetwho've said, "Why don't you adopt a kid from Britain?" Or, "Why did you adopt a black child?" So a lot of people's hangups and 'isms' are sort of mixed into this, too. It's just kind of a cocktail for disaster in terms of media perception.

One of the 'isms' that you're frequently accused of is dilletantism. You're new to Africa and these issues and there's a perception that you're jumping on a bandwagon, and bringing a child into it, too.

Well that's not my problem. I don't care. I could know about the situation for two weeks and want to do something about it or I could know about it for years and deliberate on a plan of action. Which is better? That I found out about an issue and instantly wanted to take action, or that it took me years to get my shit together? Look, I could have joined the U.N. and become an ambassador and visited various countries and just kind of showed up and smiled and looked concerned. But that's not getting to the root of the problemand by the way, neither is building orphan care centers and giving people food and medicine. But it's a start. I'm saving people's lives. And whether I have earned the right to do it, or the respect of people who think I may not have the right to do it, is completely and utterly irrelevant. And in any event, no, I'm not interested in going in there like a dilettante and being an idiot and going 'Ok, I'm going to build 10 orphanages and I'll see you guys later!'

So this is a lifetime commitment?

Absolutely. I'm starting with Malawi. It's a small, peaceful country, so I feel like it's a safe place to start. And if it works, I'll expand. But it is the beginning and I know I'm going to get a lot of criticism and take a lot of shit for it, and it's kind of like, Go ahead, haze me, have a laugh, and come back and talk to me in five years.

You've been through other hazing periods in your career. Is this one different than...

Yeah, because a life is at stake. And in all those other hazing periods people were just trying to fuck with me. Now they're going into a village and terrorizing innocent people who live simple lives, terrorizing the father, terrorizing the children that I already have. There are a lot of people who are indirectly being effected by it. That's the difference.

You met Mr. Banda once, in a courtroom. What did you say to him?

Obviously when you're sitting across from the father it's really heart wrenching. He was looking down at the ground all the time and I felt so bad for him. I said, 'I feel for you and I want what's best for David. So if you want him, I don't want to take your son from you. I just want to save his life. I can't live in Malawi. I can't move my family here. He would have to come and live with me and I would raise him as a son. But there's another option. I can just give you money, and you can raise him.' And he said no. But he still had a very hangdog expression, which crushed me. It was very confusing, and I'm sure he was very confused. Look, his wife dies, his other three children die, the guy's been grieving and been through hell. He gives his last son to an orphanage at the age of two weeks... to a certain extent he was ready to move on with his life. Then suddenly I show up and someone from the village says 'Hey, this white woman'he didn't know who I was'wants to adopt your child!' And once the press got involved everyone said Oh God, now we better cross our t's and dot our i's to make sure we actually aren't jumping queues, because we're going to be scrutinized. So the process became extremely tedious and the court dates kept changing and we kept getting conflicting information. It became so difficult that every day I thought, 'Ok, forget it. We'll find a family here to look after him.' Meanwhile I had been given permission to take him to my hotel because I had to take him to a clinic to get chest x-rays and a proper medical examination to see why he wasn't breathing properly. And I just keep thinking, 'Oh god, I don't want to get too attached because what if it doesn't happen?' It was all very strange and weird, and I'd go to bed every night and think ok, whether someone else ends up looking after him or you end up looking after him, he's better off now than he was. But it was one fucking thing after the next, everywhere we went. So the idea that people think I got a shortcut or an easy ride is absolutely ludicrous. I have never worked so hard for anything in my life, and I've never been given such a hard time. And my celebrity has worked against me in every way... And by the way, say I did cut the queue? Say I did cheat and not have to wait two years to adopt a child? Well good for me! Do you know how many children are going to die in the next two years? It's a stupid law. Change the law.

Do you worry at all that you've saved this child from physical misery...

From death. Death. He would not have lived.

Ok. But do you worry that you've saved him only to introduce him to a much more abstract kind of misery? There were hordes of photographers documenting his arrival in England.

Well my other children are exposed to that and they're not miserable. I think I have a very good life, and a good life to offer David. You know, it's like the old saying, civil rights don't mean shit if you're dead. Even if I'm the worst mother in the world, I'm still better than death! [laughs]

Is being Madonna still as fun as it used to be?

Fun? Oh, I don't know. Fun. [Several second pause] Fun's kind of an overrated word. I'm not sure what you mean by that. Do I enjoy aspects of my life? Because what being Madonna isare you talking about my professional career?

All of it.

Well, I do get joy out of it. It's not smooth sailing by any means, but I enjoy a great deal of it, otherwise I wouldn't do it. But I also know that if you're going to try and change thingschange anything reallyyou'd better be prepared to find yourself in the headquarters of hell. That's just how it works. But with resistance comes growth. If you go to a gym and lift weights and its easy then your muscles aren't going to grow. Your muscles grow because you're struggling against something.

Do you enjoy the resistance as much as you used to?

Sometimes. Sometimes I do. There is a part of me that is secretly enjoying pissing people off, because I know that when you're pissing people off you're often doing the right thing. What I hope I'm doing better now than I used to do is picking the right battles to fight, and not just being provocative for the sake of being provocative.

source : time.com

Since arriving in New York on Monday to promote her new children's book - and defend her adoption of a 13-month-old urchin from Malawi - the Material Mom has been acting like a speed freak.
She's ordered her chauffeurs - one a retired cop whose brother is a state senator - to leave the paparazzi in the dust.
As a result, the drivers are breaking every rule - using fake police lights and flashers, zooming through red lights, making illegal U-turns and burning rubber on major thoroughfares.
In fact, Post reporter Marianne Garvey watched Madonna's drivers zip through 40 red lights in four days as startled pedestrians shook their fists in anger.
One driver, who identified himself only as Abel, explained, "Some days she gets in back and says, 'Abel, I don't want to be followed' - and I know what to do."
"She enjoys this," he added. "She likes it when we do bad things."
Madonna has a right to be wary. She's regularly followed by three paparazzi on bicycles, two on motorbikes and others in three cars. Still, state law specifies that only law-enforcement and government vehicles are allowed to use lights and sirens.
The star's lead driver is Patrick Golden, a retired police officer whose brother is also an ex-cop, State Sen. Martin Golden of Brooklyn. The caravan consists of two enormous jet-black SUVs, a Chevrolet Tahoe and a Cadillac Escalade. Both have black-tinted windows to keep the superstar safe from prying eyes.
The Tahoe, driven by Golden, has a siren and flashing lights. It leads the way while Madonna rides in the Escalade, sometimes accompanied by two bodyguards.
She's hardly the first person to think she owns the road. In February 2004, Mayor Bloomberg ordered the lights and sirens removed from the cars of more than 250 city officials after Deputy Mayor Carol Robles-Roman was caught using her lights and sirens to beat traffic. The penalties range from traffic-violation fines of $375 to $750 to arrest for impersonating a cop.
source : nypost

7 Pictures - Madonna arrives at the Kaballah Center in New York (November 04 2006) - are added to the gallery.

6 Pictures - Madonna arrives at the Kaballah Center in New York (November 03 2006) - are added to the gallery.

Rock superstar Bono has backed Madonna's controversial adoption of a needy African child, saying "I think it's really great".
The U2 singer, who is also perhaps the best-known anti-poverty campaigner in the world, has praised Madonna and her husband Guy Richie for the adoption of David Banda, a child from Malawi.
"I'm very happy that Madonna should offer succour and more than that to a young boy," Bono said. "He's got a great opportunity now."
Bono, who is in Australia for U2's Vertigo tour, revealed he and his wife were once offered an African child by a father desperate for his son to have a better life, but they were unable to take him home. Bono said the child, whose face haunts him to this day, is the reason he began campaigning for African poverty relief.
"One of the most profound moments I've had, one of the reasons I think I'm doing what I'm doing, was because in the 1980s I was working with my wife Ali in an orphanage in northern Ethiopia," he said.
"On the last day, a man came to me with me with his son and offered his son to me, by saying 'if you don't take my son, he will surely die. If you take him, you can give him a great life'.
"I could tell this man loved his son, he was a very noble-looking man, and it was ripping his heart to say this. And I didn't, I did not take that [boy].
"It was not the rules of engagement in the camp we were working in, we couldn't do that. It's strange, because I can't remember the boy's name, but I think about him all the time.
"Oddly enough, when people ask me 'why are you doing that' [the activism, the campaigning], his face comes back."
Bono said he and Ali had an emotional moment in their Dublin kitchen a few weeks ago, when prints from their first-ever African trip (which were being used for a new book) revealed a photo of the boy.
"I didn't know I even had a photograph of him," said Bono, who was openly emotional about the discovery of the picture.
"So I'm very happy that Madonna should offer succour and more than that to a young boy. He's got a great opportunity now.
"There's so many children in the world - there's really enough to go around."
Madonna has come under fire for taking the Malawi boy back to Britain. But the singer said she had been astounded by the criticism.
The support from Bono, who has an in-depth knowledge of African health and social issues, is a much-needed endorsement for the singer's actions.
Bono, who is due to perform at U2's opening Australian concert in Brisbane on Tuesday night, also revealed the band was planning a new album. "I think a U2 album will not be that far away, I hope," he said. "We've hit the vein, I think."
source : smh.com.au

10 Pictures - Madonna in New York (November 03 2006) - are added to the gallery.

6 Pictures - Madonna jogs in Central Park (New York, November 01 2006) - are added to the gallery.

2 Pictures - Madonna with Ingrid Casares out and about in New York (November 02 2006) - are added to the gallery.

6 Pictures - Madonna visits the Tracie Martyn Salon in New York (November 02 2006) - are added to the gallery.

2 Pictures - Madonna jogs in New York (November 02 2006) - are added to the gallery.

Female :
Madonna
Shakira
Beyoncé
Christina Aguilera
Nelly Furtado

Pop :
Madonna
Christina Aguilera
Shakira
Robbie Williams
Justin Timberlake

Album :
Confessions On A Dance Floor - Madonna
Stadium Arcadium - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Back to Basics - Christina Aguilera
Loose - Nelly Furtado
Black Holes and Revelations - Muse

5 Pictures - Madonna in New York (November 01 2006) - are added to the gallery.

3 Pictures - Madonna interviewed by Meredith Vieira for NBC Today & Dateline (October 31 2006) - are added to the gallery.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers take on queen of pop Madonna on Thursday at the MTV Europe Awards, one of the industry's biggest nights outside the United States.
The U.S. rockers head a star-studded field with four nominations, including in the best group, best song and best album categories.
Madonna, who stole the show at last year's ceremony in Lisbon with her performance in eye-catching purple leather boots and matching leotard, is one of a host of acts with three nominations each.
She is in competing for best female, best pop act and best album with "Confessions on a Dance Floor."
She is joined by Colombian-born Shakira, Christina Aguilera and rapper Kanye West of the United States and Canadian hip hop star Nelly Furtado.
U.S. heartthrob Justin Timberlake, himself nominated for the best male and best pop prizes, will present the show, following last year's hit performance by Sacha Baron Cohen, who adopted his infamous alter ego, Kazakh television presenter Borat.

Top Electronic Albums :
07 (07) Madonna - Confessions On A Dance Floor

Hot 100 Singles Sales :
30 (22) Madonna - Get Together
44 (39) Madonna - Sorry
-- (38) Madonna - Hung Up

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
27 (23) Madonna - Jump

Hot Dance Music/Club Play
02 (03) Madonna - Jump

Dance Radio Airplay :
01 (02) Madonna - Jump

Hot Dance Singles Sales :
08 (05) Madonna - Get Together
12 (10) Madonna - Sorry
14 (09) Madonna - Hung Up

Click here or on the image bellow to watch Confessions Tour Commercial on YouTube. Video captures are added to the gallery here

Words that might describe Madonna: diva, maverick, humanitarian. But in a language spoken widely in the African country of Malawi, her name takes on a new and unintentionally funny meaning.
"People started to say my name and they had never heard of Madonna," the 48-year-old singer, talking about her recent visit to Malawi, told AP Television in an interview Tuesday.
"And, in Chichewa, the word 'madonna' means 'distinguished white lady,' so I think they got very confused."
Madonna's efforts to adopt a 13-month boy, David Banda, have set off a media storm. She and her husband, filmmaker Guy Ritchie, were granted an interim adoption order by Malawi's High Court last month.
The boy has joined her two children daughter Lourdes, 9, and son Rocco, 6 in England. What is it like to have a little one again?
"It's nice," she said. "It's lovely. It's so great to hold him, you know, and he's just starting to walk. And just to see that the whole world being new again and to see the world through his eyes is wonderful."
Madonna has written a new children's book, "Too Good to Be True," and said she wants to direct a movie and has a project in mind. She also has an NBC concert special set to air Nov. 22.
When asked if she would retire to focus on her children full time, a smiling Madonna replied, "No. I love my job."
source : ap

Thanks to QueenMadonna

Nancy O'Dell has had the opportunity to interview Madonna plenty of times over the past 10 years, but now, for the first time she finds an icon who is positively glowing, and for good reason, the son she has adopted from the African nation of Malawi, 1-year-old David Banda.
"The very first night," asks Nancy, "what was that like?"
"It was a morning, actually," remembers Madonna. "He arrived at 7 o'clock in the morning and the children were getting ready for school. We were all in the kitchen, it's that quiet thing that happens in the morning when no one's totally awake, the coffee's brewing. He came with my nanny. And the door opened, it was just really quiet & she walked in & she was carrying David & the children just ran to him. Lola grabbed him & held him & it was just this strange quiet moment. It was amazing."
Madonna also tells Nancy she was "very relieved" to have her son home, especially after all of the visa problems surrounding the adoption.
The singer was forced to leave Malawi without her son in order to make her daughter, Lola's 10th birthday party.
Madonna tells Nancy that Lola was "bummed out" when she returned home without David because "she thought that was going to be her birthday present. So [she was saying] every day, "˜Is David coming? When's he going to get here?' They were very excited."
Nancy notes that Madonna has said she was drawn to him, and asks what it was that made her know that he was the one.
There is no hesitation in Madonna's answer.
"His eyes. He just had a soulfulness and a knowing look in his eyes and the first time his head turned around & he looked into a camera, I was completely drawn to him & curious about him. He haunted me."
Madonna's even learned a song in David's native language of Chichewa to sing to him.
"One of the ladies that worked at the orphanage was always singing it to him so I said teach it to me."
And besides lullabies, like most 13-month-olds, David also enjoys learning new things to say.
"He doesn't have that many words," says Madonna with a smile, "he says bye bye bah bah and mama. That's his vocabulary right now."
Soon, David will get to meet all of his famous mother's famous friends. Madonna tells Nancy that she is already planning a playdate with Gwyneth Paltrow's 6-month-old son, Moses, as well as an introduction to her good friend, Rosie O'Donnell.
"I obviously you know relied on her advice a lot, because she's adopted 3 children, to guide me through this whole process."
But not even an adoption vet like Rosie could have imagined the drama Madonna would go through when it came to bringing David home.
Nancy notes, "Angelina Jolie goes off and adopts a child and she almost becomes a saint and then there's this controversy surrounding the wonderful thing you are doing. Did it feel in any way like I'm a little hurt by this?"
"It felt unfair," says Madonna, "It felt like a personal attack. It felt like it had nothing to do with what I was actually doing."

source : accesshollywood

2 Pictures - Madonna interviewed by Meredith Vieira for NBC Today & Dateline (October 31 2006) - are added to the gallery.

Madonna has stunned an American TV host by asking him to become the godfather of her new Malawian son.
The Material Girl made the tongue-in-cheek offer to Regis Philbin during an appearance on his show, Live with Regis and Kelly.
Madonna popped the question as she defended her controversial adoption of 13-month-old David Banda from an orphanage in Malawi.
She told Philbin and co-host Kelly Ripa that she and British husband Guy Ritchie fancied him for the role.
The singer, wearing a ruffled collar, and knee-high black satin boots, spoke to the TV stars for 20-minutes. She is in the US promoting her latest children's book, The English Roses: Too Good To Be True, as well as giving her side of the story in the adoption of David.
The baby, along with Madonna's two children Lourdes, nine, and Rocco, five, are with her on the tour.
It comes ahead of her first British interview on BBC2's Newsnight programme tonight in which she also defends her controversial adoption of the baby boy.
In the interview, which has been pre-recorded in the US with presenter Kirsty Wark, Madonna reveals she offered to financially help David's father so he could keep his son in Malawi. But she says her offer was refused by Yohane Banda.
Defending herself, Madonna told the BBC: 'When you have an entire adult population wiped out and no-one to look after these children, you have got to address the laws and make adoption easier for people.'
She insisted that she had offered David's father financial assistance to look after the child, which had been refused.
'I offered that option to the father and he declined. I never met a granny. I was told that from the day that he was left at the orphanage that he was not visited by any extended family.'
Madonna said if she had been told that he had any link with his family she would not have become so interested in him.
'There were many conditions that made me worried for his life.'
Yohane Banda has revealed that David was due to be adopted by another American family, but Madonna took him first.
Last week, Madonna, 48, appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show to defend her decision to adopt David.
Some critics believe that Winfrey gave the singer an easy ride in the interview, and will be hoping for more difficult questions from Wark.
source : metro.co.uk

Madonna reads to her littlest fans from her new Book "Too Good To Be True", The sequel to her best selling book "The English Roses". Click here or on the image bellow to view pictures at WireImage.com.

16 Pictures - Madonna in New York (October 31 2006) - are added to the gallery.

8 Pictures - Madonna on 'Live with Regis and Kelly' (October 31 2006) - are added to the gallery.

Madonna offered to support the African baby she hopes to adopt and leave him in Malawi but his father declined, the pop star has told the BBC.
In a Newsnight interview, to be shown on Wednesday night, she denied reports that David Banda had regular visits from his family at his orphanage.
She "became interested in him" after being told he had been "left in the orphanage", she said.
He is now at her London home after she was granted a temporary custody order.
Madonna denied newspaper reports that David had regular visits at the orphanage from his father and his grandmother.
"I disagree," she said.
Asked if it would have been an option to support him and leave him in Malawi, she replied: "Yes, I offered that option to the father and he declined.
"And I never met a granny and I was told... that from the day that he was left in the orphanage he was not visited by any extended family members and that's really why I became interested in him.
"If someone had said to me, 'His dad comes every week or his granny visits on a regular basis and he's well looked after,' I would not even have given it another thought."
There were "many conditions" that made her "worry for his life", Madonna added.
"One was the fact that, according to the reverend who ran the orphanage that David came from, his father never visited him.
"His father lived 50 or 60km away, had no car, had no money and, as far as I was told, had remarried and moved on with his life."
Click on image bellow to watch a short preview of Newsnight Interview with Madonna.

source : bbc

11 Pictures - Madonna leaves Heathrow Airport in London for the US (October 29 2006) - are added to the gallery.

8 Pictures - Madonna arrives at New York's JFK airport (October 29 2006) - are added to the gallery.

Madonna said Tuesday that the father of the African boy she is trying to adopt refused her offer of financial assistance to help him keep his son.
"I said I would be happy to ... bring him back to your village and help you financially raise him. And he said no," Madonna told Meredith Vieira in an interview set to air on "Today" and "Dateline NBC" on Wednesday and Thursday.
The boy"˜s father, Yohane Banda, said last week that he feared criticism of the adoption would prompt the singer to drop her efforts, and he urged her not to do so.
The singer"˜s efforts to adopt David Banda have set off a media storm, one that Madonna told "Today" reflects "our inability to focus on the real problems and our desire to have distractions and to be consumed with people"˜s personal lives and gossip."
"That"˜s underneath a lot of people"˜s prejudice about me adopting David," she told "Today." "I think a lot of people have a problem with the fact that I"˜ve adopted an African child, a child who has a different color skin than I do."
source : ap

Madonna will defend her adoption of an African boy on BBC2's Newsnight tomorrow.
The pop superstar will speak to presenter Kirsty Wark in her first British interview since adopting 13-month-old David Banda from Malawi.
It follows her appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show in the US last week.
The interview will be recorded tonight in the US where the singer has schedu